Providing a safe digital environment 

Your club may have started using online digital platforms to hold your regular activities and meetings. As club officers, it is important that you make sure that you continue to consider members’ safety and wellbeing as part of your plans. A number of large digital meetings are being targeted by hackers, so it is important to put some simple safety measures in place.

Inform parents of under 18-year-olds of the meetings

If you have not already done so, inform parents that you will be holding virtual YFC meetings/activities and ask if their child can join. Make sure they know the time and day and how it will run (for example, the name of the provider, how to join, the password etc). Contacting parents will also give them the opportunity to ask questions.

Set a password for your meeting

When you set up your digital meetings, change your settings so that the meetings have a password. Remember to email the password to participants (or parents of younger members). DO NOT put this password onto a public internet site such as Facebook.

Zoom’s Waiting Room function

The Waiting Room in Zoom allows the host to control when a participant joins the meeting. The host can admit one attendee or everyone at once. This aims to stop “Zoom-bombing”, in which hackers infiltrate video meetings, often shouting racial slurs or threats.

Kick people out

If you have disabled the waiting room option, the host can remove people from the meeting by managing participants.

Check your privacy settings

Check your privacy settings so that you are not showing more personal information than you want to share on social media sites. Check the privacy settings on a regular basis as they can be frequently updated and some apps also reveal your location.

Group agreement

Just like you would in your normal YFC meetings, make sure that everyone is respectful of each other and able to participate in a safe environment. Inclusion of members is really important at this time.

Recording

Only the host of Zoom can allow recording. Unless the meeting is a formal committee meeting there is no need to record it. You will need the consent of those taking part in the meeting and the consent of parents of those under the age of 18 if you do want to record it. 

How to stay safe online

With more members now using online platforms as a lifeline to connect from home, it is a good time to make sure you're staying safe online

Don’t share your personal information or passwords

Don’t lower your guard when it comes to social media, remember not to share more personal information than you would normally, and think about identifying factors which might be in the background of a photo or livestream. Any key identifying information about yourself should always be kept private (e.g your full name, mobile number, email address, or physical address). Remember not to share any passwords which could give others access to your account.

Think carefully about who you chat to when making online contacts and connections

Remember to be vigilant when talking or chatting to people you don’t know online through online gaming or social media apps. Not everyone is who they say they are but they can pretend to be a different age to form real friendships. If this happens to you, speak to your parents or friends before taking any action.

Think carefully about what you share

Fake news circulates social media sites, so think carefully before you share as not everything is true. Remember not to overshare anything (photos, videos, information) you wouldn’t want your parents, teachers, colleagues or friends to see. Once you press send, it is in the public domain and you will have lost control over it.

Check your privacy settings

Check your privacy settings so that you are not showing more personal information than you want to be on social media sites. Check the privacy settings on a regular basis as they can be frequently updated and some apps also reveal your location.

Scams

There are even more scams circulating at the moment with hackers and scammers taking advantage of more people being online and dropping their guard. Always check first before signing up to or buying anything online, check the links - if it sounds too good to be true then it probably is. By doing this you can reduce some of these risks and keep safe online. There is lots of good information available to protect you online and below are a few suggestions:

Useful sites:

The Mix

Catch 22 

NSPCC 

Trading Standards